Chap. 10-
Alec and Wy made their way down the alley as quickly as they could, pausing at the end to check for trouble.
Stepping out of the protective cover of the alleyway, they both caught sight of the sniper on the roof but it was Wy who moved first, turning to step in front of Alec so fast she hardly seemed to occupy the space between where she had been and where she was. The move left them staring into each others' faces and Alec saw her eyes widen as something struck her in the back.
He felt like he was underwater. He saw her mouth fall open but he couldn't hear the sound that came out of it and his arms felt too heavy to reach toward her. She stumbled, slowly, slowly, drifting downward like a coin through the water.
Waking suddenly, he grabbed her by the arm, keeping her on her feet. The bullets fell around them with the hard tinny sound of rain as Alec dragged Wy across the street and out of the line of fire.
They scrambled along together, deeper into the warren of abandoned buildings in what used to be the fish- packing district. Wy was struggling to keep up with him, her movements becoming increasingly clumsy, her steps fast and out of control like falling dominoes.
They stopped as soon as Alec thought they could afford to, blocks away from the club, pausing in the shadow of a large dumpster. Wy hardly had both of her feet on the ground before he yanked her around roughly.
"Where are you hit?" He demanded, running his hand frantically over her back as he searched for blood. There was a moment of confusion when he found none.
She opened her hand, revealing several sharp-tipped projectiles, "Darts." She explained tersely.
Before he could react to that she was nodding, "C'mon." insisting that they keep moving.
Alec peered at her- even with his superior sight her face was murky and hard to read in the extreme dark of the alleyway. He couldn't tell if she was okay but he knew that she was right. They had to keep moving.
Alec stepped out into the alley, turning to the right, when Wy fumbled to grab his hand.
He looked back at her almost shocked by the touch but she shook her head, "Not that way. Left."
"Left takes us deeper into Sector Five." He argued briefly. She was still clinging to his hand like it could keep her upright.
"They're waiting in the other direction. –and they're coming up behind us. Left." She insisted.
"Fine."
They managed to make it another six or seven blocks when her foot seemed to slip out from under her and she stumbled heavily.
"Are you okay?" Alec demanded, flattening himself against a wall and pushing her back against it as well. There was more light here- enough so that he could see her waver again.
"Yeah, I'm-" Then her face went pale and she put one hand out uncertainly, "Oh, crap-" she said before slumping sideways.
He grabbed her around the waist before she could fall completely and ground his teeth in frustration and fury. What did she have to jump in front of the freakin' darts for anyway? Shaking her sharply, he demanded, "Wy! Hey-"
Using him and the wall, she dragged herself upward, wavering on her feet. Alec kept his arm around her waist and towed her along a few more streets before pausing again.
It wasn't that she was heavy- she wasn't. He wondered briefly if she was eating enough and then shook the thought away impatiently.
Alec could carry her easily but without her . . . particular abilities it would be easy for him to wander into a trap in this tangle of streets. He needed her conscious and he figured keeping her walking was the best way to accomplish that. She moved like a zombie as he frog marched her through the dark streets, but at least she was moving.
They made it nearly another mile before she collapsed again. Once more he shook her and demanded in a low voice, "Wy!" But whatever was in the dart was dragging at her like wet sand. "Wy- damn it- wake up, you worthless-"
She seemed to stir a little, the sharper his voice got. It gave him an idea.
"On your feet, soldier!" He hissed at her, his face so close his nose almost brushed her cheek, "At attention!"
Somehow she managed to stand a little straighter.
"Report- current layout of enemy troops."
Wy took a deep breath, lids falling closed over murky intoxicated eyes. For a second, Alec was afraid she had passed out while she was still on her feet.
The girl opened her eyes as she raised one arm to point unsteadily, "100 yards, south by southeast- sizeable movement- six or more troops. Due south- possible activity. Out of confirmation range."
They were being pushed toward the harbor. "Possible escape routes?" He demanded, in his best imitation of the drill sergeant who- his lips twisted sarcastically at the thought- practically raised him.
She didn't answer right away.
"Report!"
"Proceed north by northwest approximately 2.5 miles."
Every time she wavered, he would snap another furious order and in this manner, they made their stop-start way thru the twisted dark.
Nearly half an hour into their strange ordeal, Wy tripped heavily over a stack of crates, landing face first on the street. Alec was so used to snapping directions at her by this point, he didn't immediately move to help her up, "V2-183," He barked, "On your feet!" His voice sounded ugly even to himself.
She stirred weakly, managing to pull herself up onto her hands, her head hanging weary and heavy. He could see her shoulder blades straining and sharp even under her jacket. There would be three holes in the leather where the darts had penetrated, Alec realized absently.
Then he moved to help her, sliding his fingers under her arm and lifting her with unexpected gentleness. She murmured something too low for him to hear.
"What?"
Raising her face, she stared up at him, unguarded for once and pale. Alec felt . . . strange and invisible like she wasn't actually looking at him but someone else- someone out of the past maybe. Gripping the sleeve of his jacket, she said in a tone horribly like begging, "Please, not the mess hall. Not the-"
"What?" He demanded again, grabbing her other arm and holding her square in front of him so he could look into her face. "Wy-" He shook her, so that her head waved back and forth like a tree in the wind. "Stop it."
"Not the mess hall." she repeated desperately, clutching at him in return with iron fingers, "I'll do better." She promised. Then in a horrible, shaking parody of the formal voice they had been taught to use when reporting to a superior officer, she said, "Subject exhibits signs of-"
Her words made absolutely no sense to Alec but the way she was looking at him was horrifying. He had seen his share of wide-eyed terror in the brief seconds before he had ended a life, more times than he allowed himself to think about. But this was worse.
His nightmares sat in the back of his head and watched her- drowning in fear- with knowing eyes.
"Stop it!"
She continued in the same frantic voice.
Alec could feel his own hands shaking on her arms.
"That's enough!" Reaching back, Alec brought his hand around sharply, in an urgent open-palmed slap that put her on the ground again.
He heard his breath shuddering in and out of his mouth, felt his chest heaving with it. Looking down at her little rumpled form on the street in front of him, lying there like something discarded; he felt a sour, turning moment of shame.
And then he remembered where he was. His jaw set grimly- no time for shame or remorse. He bent over and scooped her up quickly, glancing around for somewhere. . . there. Across the road there was what looked like an abandoned processing plant, opening out onto the bay. If they had to they could hide in the water, maybe swim away. It would have to do.
He carried her across the road, moving swiftly toward the single dark door he could see. When he tried the doorknob, he felt it catch- locked. But for him, not a problem. Leaning back, he kicked it open with a sharp, business-like motion and entered.
Inside, Alec pushed the door shut behind him with his foot and glanced around. The interior of the plant was dark, the high windows painted over with dust and grime. It was pleasantly warm though, to be out of the perpetual Seattle drizzle. Alec moved quietly around the edges of the large space, trying to avoid leaving footprints in the dust. Apparently the smell had kept even the hardened squatters away.
In his arms, Wy stirred a little and her eyelids fluttered.
Not completely unconscious then, he noted. Not that it mattered at this point.
He found an old walk-in freezer with its' heavy door still in place. The walls were nice and thick which might help if Whites' men tried to use heat seeing equipment. It was the best he could do under the circumstances.
Wy woke suddenly, trying to sit up in his arms so that he almost dropped her. She slipped downward, feet hitting the floor but not holding her. Alec grabbed her by the arm to help keep her upright, his startled grip tight enough to bruise. Opening the freezer door, he pushed her inside and she didn't bother fighting him. She was already sitting on the floor, her back against the wall when he slipped inside after her. He lowered himself to the floor as well, just a few feet across the narrow space from her.
Wy was resting her forehead against her tented knees, arms circling her legs and her fingers wrapped tight around her feet.
Tilting his head back wearily, it occurred to Alec that it had been an all around shitty night.
They sat in silence for quite awhile.
Eventually, he heard Wy stirring and when he looked across at her she was studying the darts thoughtfully.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Some kind of fast acting sedative, designed to incapacitate the target instead of killing." Her voice was stronger now but still sloppy, slurring the word 'incapacitate' and making Alec smirk a little.
"Not very effective." He observed dryly, "It took almost half an hour to knock you out."
"I'd guess it was designed for X5 metabolism. You guys burn so hot, it would have put you out a lot faster."
"I am hot." He conceded.
She rolled her eyes expressively and they lapsed into silence again. He could hear her breathing deliberately in and out as she waited for the weakness to pass.
"How did you know they were just darts?" He asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him.
"I didn't."
Alec went completely still. "You threw yourself in front of a possible bullet? You couldn't just shove me out of the way? What's your damage?" The shame was back suddenly and pounding at his insides with unexpectedly strong fists. He stubbornly ignored it.
"I guess I'm just saintly."
"You're crazy." He shook his head, "Abso-freaking-nuts." The look he gave her was appalled- offended even, as though she had betrayed a basic principle of courtesy and didn't even have the decency to be embarrassed.
She shrugged, "I guess we're even now."
Were they? He wasn't sure anymore. He was loosing track of who owed who what and for when. It felt like he owed her something, like they were connected somehow. And the obligation lurked on the edge of his consciousness, itching and antagonizing him. It was so freaking irritating.
And suddenly he couldn't stand to sit there in that little space just in arms reach of her any longer.
"How does it smell to you?" He demanded abruptly.
She raised one eyebrow, "Pardon me?"
"You know, that voodoo that you do so well-" he waved one hand sarcastically, "is there anyone skulking around outside?"
"We're sitting in what used to be a processing plant for cod."
"So?"
"So, I have a super-nose. I can't smell anything but fish."
He gave her a look that clearly indicated he felt she was worthless at this point.
"I can't hear anyone though or sense anything bigger than some rats and maybe a opossum." She snapped defensively. "It's probably safe to move."
"Probably?" He asked incredulously, "What's the range on your little electro- sensory thingy, anyway?"
She gave him a resentful glance but he waited and she said finally, in a sulky little voice,
"A hundred yards, give or ta-"
His snort interrupted her.
"It works best in the water." She muttered.
"I guess next time we'll have to find a pool to hide in."
"Maybe next time-" she started sharply but shut her mouth all of a sudden, turning her face away to glare at the door.
"Maybe next time, you'll what?" He snapped back, "Spare me the-" In the pocket of his jacket, his cell began to vibrate. Yanking it out, Alec glared down at the too familiar number.
Max.
To answer or not to answer. The eternal question.
Peering up from the phone, he could see Wy through his eyelashes, still glaring at the door. Her face turned away from him again.
Striking the send button with more force than necessary he demanded into the phone "Yeah?"
He could just about picture the raised-eyebrow, expression of offense on Maxs' face. "What's got your panties in a knot?" She asked.
"Oh, I don't know," He answered caustically, "maybe it's the fact that I've been playing hide-and-go-seek all night with heavily armed men."
"Well, they're gone now."
Alec paused, "How do you know?"
"I watched them. They gave up the search about an hour ago."
"Did you get the package?"
"Something . . . better." Anyone else would sound smug. She just sounded calm, business like even. "You and Wy alright?" She asked after a moment. Alec looked over at Wy again.
Who could tell?
"Yeah."
"Good," The quick common place tone was back, "I've got Logan with me. Meet us at-" She rattled off an address that wasn't too far from their current position.
"Fine."
The line went dead before he could even finish his giving his assent. Alec got wearily to his feet.
"Can you walk?" He asked the girl on the floor.
She looked surprised, "Of course." And she was on her feet a second later, a little slower than she usually might have moved.
"According to Max it's safe. Can't sit around in this freezer all night." He added sarcastically to no one in particular.
It was about a twenty minute walk to the address Max had given them. It seemed longer.
Max met them at the door, "Well, look who decided to show up. About time." She added over her shoulder as she left the doorway to move inside. Wy ducked through after her without answering, as she had not answered anything Alec had said to her in the last twenty minutes.
Alec surveyed the empty street behind him before entering himself. "Well . . . that was fun." He told the quiet air grimly.